Against the Shadows IV - A Faded Glory Story Hour

Greetings All and Welcome to the New Boards!

IMPORTANT NOTE: I decided to place the entire Story Hour in this thread to make it easier for new readers (and old)...I will be formatting/cleaning up over the next day or so!

In honor of the move, we continue the Faded Glory Saga with Installment IV...

To follow the adventures of Rowan, Quintus, Sextus, Rose and Lew from the beginning, visit:

The Original - Against the Shadows - A Faded Glory Story Hour here:

Original Faded Glory Story Hour

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The Sequel - Against the Shadows 2 - A Faded Glory Story Hour here:

Second Faded Glory Story Hour

-AND-

The Trilogy - Against the Shadow III - A Faded Glory Story Hour here:

Third Faded Glory Story Hour

The Campaign Website, designed by Oberton, can be found here:

Faded Glory Website

*UPDATE: THE CAMPAIGN WEBSITE IS UNDERGOING SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES, PLEASE BEAR WITH US!

Campaign Info and Commentary can be found here:

Campaign Info

Another excellent Faded Glory Story Hour, using the Faded Glory Campaign Setting and run by DM Rel, with a different flavor and lots of twists and turns, can be found here:

Rel's Faded Glory Story Hour

Thanks to all of the readers and lurkers for their support, their readership, their commentary and their ideas.

Stay tuned for further adventures as the PCs face not only the dangers of the Faded Glory world - but the Table of Elemental Evil and a charter member of the Rat Bastard DM's Club (tm)!

Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Old One

(DM's Note: I try to run a challenging - but fair - campaign. I make most of my rolls in the open and let the dice fall where they may. I also have lots of plots, sub-plots and 'red herrings' hanging about, so sometimes my players don't know whether they are coming or going. My two favorite player states are paranoid and confused! I think I have done a pretty good job so far - read on and see if you agree...)

Dramatis Personae

Dramatis Personae Update

Gandlewyn (Lew) Fritinius (Human Cleric 4) - A Cleric of the Church of Light, Lew has advanced to an Acolyte of the Second Mystery of Osirian. Lew was born and raised in the frontier town of Glynden. His parents were killed in a bandit attack when he was 18 winters old and he left Glynden for three years to wander the Lost Northern Provinces and minister to the sick and suffering. He has recently returned to Glynden and has taken up with some childhood friends.

His younger brother, Marcus, is also a cleric of the Church of Light and has advanced to the rank of Acolyte of the Second Mystery. He secretly blames Lew for the death of their parents and relations between the brothers are cool, at best. Marcus recently departed Glynden to travel to Oar in the company of Brother Patroclian, a cleric of Osirian from the Jewel Cities.

Lew has been troubled by strange dreams of late, primarily related to his recently deceased friends, Garrick and Marcus Tiro. He is a kind-hearted and truthful soul and is sometimes distressed at the barbaric and/or underhanded actions of his compatriots - particularly Quintus and Rosë.

Lew recently decided to add some physical armor to the protection provided by the had of Osirian and now wears studded leather armor. He is primarily a defensive fighter and uses a quarterstaff for close fighting and a crossbow at range.

Rowan (Human Ranger 3/Rogue 1) - Born on a small farm outside of Glyden. He spent most of his youth shirking his responsibilities on the farm - fishing, hunting and playing in the woods instead. He took a nasty fall from a tall tree at the age of six, leaving him with a large scar on his forehead. He was tortured and almost slain by gnolls at the age of 10 and was rescued by a grizzled woodsman known to him only as "The Old Man".

Over the next 10 winters or so, the Old Man showed up from time to time, always unannounced, and taught Rowan the ways of the Ranger. Recently, he gifted Rowan with a battered short sword - the same one that had been used to save him from the gnolls many years before. The sword bears the faint outline of an eagle etched near the base of the blade, along with some undecipherable script.

No one else in town has ever actually seen the Old Man and some less kind souls whisper that he is a figment of Rowan's imagination, brought about by the blow to the head when he was a boy. Rowan scouts for the Glynden militia from time to time and spends the balance of his time doing as little as possible.

Rowan was deeply affected by the loss of Garrick and Marucs Tiro. He grieved silently for them until he was able to fashion a fetish, made of various components he gathered, for each of them and place them on their graves. After a rocky start, he and Quintus have become fast friends with a growing mutual respect. In fact, Quintus has steered Rowan towards one of his younger sisters, Maxima...an idea that Rowan has been most agreeable too!

Several recent events have complicated life for Rowan somewhat. During a disasterous battle with a mixed gnoll-human bandit group, several daughters of the Cassivius Family - prominent locals - were murdered. Only one daughter, Drusilla, managed to survive and she now travels with the group. The beautiful young woman has caught the attentions of Rowan, Quintus and Sextus. Quintus is quite cross with his friend, since the sorcerer sees Rowan's interest in the Cassuvius girl as an insult to his sister (and a threat to Quintus' own designs).

The second event was a chance meeting with the strange trader Lathan and his even stranger mule, Bogwell. The trader examined his battered short sword and said their was nothing remarkable about it save for a stylized "L" on the blade. The morning after the trader departed, the blade began to tingle and the faint outline of the double-headed eagle of Emor and the "L" became much more visible! Exactly what this means remains to be seen.

Due to the increasing danger of their travels and frequent ambushes, Rowan is now concentrating on his scouting abilities.

(DM's Note: Rowan chose to cross-class into "Rogue" the last time he levelled.)

Rowan is protected by studded leather armor, wields his trusty short sword in hand-to-hand combat and uses a short bow for ranged attacks.

(DM's Note: Rowan's player chose to take the alternative pseude-feats I allow for rangers, which are point-blank shot and far shot, instead of ambidexterity and two-weapon fighting)

Rosë (Human Barbarian 4) - Rosë was born into the Brigantes, a fierce and proud tribe from the barbarian wilds. A soothsayer assured his mother that he would be born a girl, so his mother named him Rosë to spite the soothsayer for being wrong. Not only was he born a male, but he had a birthmark across his shoulders that resembled a great bird with outstretched wings - the totem animal of the Brigantes is a great eagle.

He endured many taunts as a youth, for he did not know his father and his mother was rumored to have a wandering eye. The taunts became fewer as Rosë entered puberty and grew into a strapping youth, easily beating tribesmen two or three winters his elder in tests of strength.

At the Gathering of Tribes, a very rare event, he had the misfortune to fall in love with Asralla, virgin daughter of Talorc, Warlord of the Allmani and sworn blood enemy of the Brigantes. Talorc was furious when he discovered that his daughter was no longer a virgin and that a Brigante had taken her flower. During the inquisition that followed, Rosë was stunned to learn that Vercinox, leader of the Brigantes, was his grandfather and that he was the bastard son of a "Steel Man", as the tribes referred to Emorians.

Sentenced to death, he escaped with the help of his mother and fled the lands of the Tribes - an outcast. He eventually made his way to Glynden as a caravan guard for a halfling trade caravan, but took sick soon after arriving. Cared for in the Abbey of Osirian, he met "Lew" and Garrick brought him food from the tavern. Through these, he met both Rowan and Marcus Tiro.

Rosë was stoic in his acceptance of the death's of Marcus Tiro and Garrick, but anxious to return to the field to avenge their deaths. He recently had a major run-in with Kothric, the betrothed of Asralla.

During the course of events, Asralla sacrificed herself to save Rosë and his companions, Rosë discovered he had an infant son and he learned that his father, Gordius, was actually the self-styled "Emperor of the North" for a few short winters. Rosë feels that his life is becoming entirely too complicated!

He placed his infant son, named Gordius Vercinox, after his father and grandfather, in the care of the Scipio family and regularly provides coin for the child's care. To date, he has not formed a strong bond with his son, but it is early yet.

Rosë is somewhat uneven in combat. During some encounters, he fights like a ferocious beast and none can stand in his way. During others, he can't hit a thing! In one recent combat, he was bested by a pair of puny human rogues and has been itching for revenge ever since. During the encounter with the trader Lathan, he bought a battered woodsman's axe which transformed the next day into a gleaming hand axe. He has yet to determine what its exact properties are.

Rosë wears leather armor and fights with a variety of weapons, depending on the situation. His primary melee weapon is the great axe taken from Kothric and he uses a long bow for ranged combat.

The Brothers Scipio - Quintus and Sextus - The Scipio family has a long history of service in both the Emorian Military and the Imperial Service Bureau. Following the sack of Lords, the boys' father Lucius (the only surviving member of the family) relocated to Glynden and took a position with the Brathwaite Mining Company as a mining foreman. He married Julia Atticus, a distant cousin of the Cassuvius family. A virile man, he fathered two sons and seven daughters by the time he was 40.

Unfortunately, a mine cave-in left him permanently crippled four years ago. Based on his long years of service and excellent work, Boss Braithwaite allowed the family to continue living in their company housing rent free and even provided a small stipend. Lucius constant battle with pain has left him addicted to Krithroot, an herbal painkiller, and he is now bed-ridden and slightly unhinged mentally.

Quintus Scipio (Human Sorcerer 4) - The eldest of nine, Quintus carries a heavy weight on his shoulders. He has worked in the mines since his father was injured on a crew under the ultimate supervision of Ned Gallway, with whom he does not get along at all. He feels he must act as the "Father Figure" for the family now, carrying for his younger siblings and findind suitable husbands for his seven sisters.

A stern and sober young man, he avoids drink and other excesses, since both his grandfather and great-grandfather died early after falling under the spell of the bottle. He has also watched with dismay as his father has declined physically and mentally. Despite his taciturn exterior, Quintus is handsome, has a strong personality and is looked to as a leader by those that know him best.

He discovered his sorcerous abilities two years ago when attacked by dire rats deep in the mines. The power came to him unbidden and he put the two rats to sleep. One of his fellow miners, Abrigal Edelman, saw what happened, killed the rats, then revealed to him that she too had the "Gift". She tutored him in its use and the two grew close. Recently, however, she has shown an unhealthy interest in Necromancy and Quintus is concerned about this "dark" streak in her.

In the past several moons, Quintus' world has turned topsy-turvey. His two young cousins, Meikos and Wynda, have gone missing. He had a serious altercation with Ned Gallway, the Brathwaite Mining Company foreman. He caught his beautiful, but foolish sister Sebrina kissing Orsen Jucadius and put them both to sleep after a sharp argument. And his childhood friend, Tomas "Bull" Nacalius, refused to help him find his cousins - taking Orsen Jucadius' side and actually knocking his erstwhile friend down with his war-pony.

In desperation, Quintus turned to the only people who might know where his cousins are - Lew, Rowan and Rosë.

After a poor start, Quintus has emerged as somewhat a leader for the group. The successful retrieval of his cousins, the return of the barbarian Kothric to his people and the semi-successful clearing of several abandoned mines have elevated the sorcerer's standing in the group.

He is quite pleased that Rowan has taken a liking to Maxima, that her twin Luella is turning into a formidable trader and that he has affected the relocation of his entire family to a small caretaker's cabin near the Abbey of Osirian.

Quintus, however, is beset by problems on every side. Ned Gallway is out to get him, his one-time lover, Abrigal Edelman has disappeared, his eldest sister Sabrina has taken up residence at the Castellan Jucadius as Orsen Jucadius' lover and he has just accussed Josephus of Bremerton, a close friend of Constable Kyndalyn, of poisening his father!

Following the "trial" in which Josephus was exonerated (at least in the eyes of the law), Quintus couldn't get out of town fast enough!

In the intervening weeks, following the disasterous battle at the ruined villa and the retrieval of Drusilla Cassuvius, Quintus has become more and more paranoid. He is drawn to the beautiful Drusilla, but finds himself competing with Rowan and Sextus for her attention. He is also quite alarmed by the potential involvement of the Cult of Ashai within the Cassuvius Family through the actions of Domita Sestius, Drusilla's stepmother.

Quintus makes good use of his magic, both offensively and defensively. He uses a crossbow for ranged combat and a spear on the few occassions that he is called upon for hand-to-hand combat. He is still trying to scrape together the 1,000 denarii needed for the ritual components to summon a familiar!

Sextus Scipio (Human Bard 3/Ranger 1) - A year younger and two hand's breadths shorter than his brother, Sextus is as care-free as Quintus is serious. He has yet to find any real direction in life - he studied briefly under Father Thomas, spent a season or two with the militia and even managed to persuade "Uncle" Claudius to teach him a bit about magic, showing an inner apptitude like his brother, only not as focused.

For one of such small stature, Sextus has a suprisingly booming voice. He can easily make himself heard over a crowd and has used that ability to become somewhat of a fixture at Nan's Tavern. He is skilled with the hand harp, knows lots of stories and is a fairly talented entertainer when he puts his mind to it. He managed to avoid service in the mines, but picks up a few denarii entertaining or doing odd jobs. Although he is cabable of earning coin, he spends it even faster, so he regularly comes to Quintus seeking "loans"!

His father's illness has impacted him very hard and he often plays soothing music and sings softly to him, which seems to calm the elder Scipio and ease his pain. He is devoted to his older brother and usually follows his lead on issues regarding the family. He is aghast at Sebrina's involvement with the Jucadius boy and just as determined as Quintus to see that put to an end!

His knowledge of local legend and history have proved to be quite valuable and his charming personality has helped the group several times. The barbarian Kothric took a liking to the diminutive bard and that affection probably helped save the group from almost certain death. The band can count on Sextus to raise their spirits when things look bleakest!

Sextus can be quite brave (Quintus calls it foolhardy). Numerous times, he has either charged the enemy unsupported or stood his ground when any sane man would run. He also sings stirring ballads during combat, inspiring his comrades to greater feats of arms. That inspiration has turned the tide during several battles!

Since the rescue of Drusilla, Sextus has been quietly trying to win her affections. Rowan and Quintus are fairly straight-forward, but Sextus use small magic tricks, sleight-of-hand and other tricks to make the young lady laugh. The ultimate results of his efforts remain to be seen!

Impressed by the combat abilities and general "woodslore" of his friend Rowan, Sextus has been trying to emulate the ranger's movements and has been pestering the ever-patient Rowan about the finer points of tracking!

(DM's Note: Sextus chose to cross-class into "Ranger" the last time he levelled.)

Sextus is protected by studded leather armor and uses a short sword in melee combat. He relies on a crossbow for ranged attacks.

The Graveyard

Garrick (Halfling Rogue 1) - Slain and partially eaten by dire rats in the abandoned Western Mines (Session 2).

Marcus Tiro (Human Fighter 1) - Killed by falling into a 15-pace deep pit - twice (Session 2).

Old One

Campaign Synopsis

Campaign Synopsis

Spoiler Alert: This post summarizes the campaign up through Session 10. If you are a new reader or want the 'Full Monty' - skip this post and read on!


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It all began on a blustery spring morning in ER 2994. Kyndalyn the Younger, accompanied by Rowan and two militia members, interrupted Rosë, Marcus Tiro, Lew and Garrick at breakfast. Gnolls had been spotted and their help was needed. Less than an hour and a very difficult battle later, one of the militia members lay dead and several of the party members were near death. The gnolls were defeated, but the cost was steep. They found a crude map on one of the gnolls, indicating several possible campsites around Glynden, but did not have a chance to follow up on the lead.

Recovering from their wounds, the party learned that two local children, Wynda and Meikos, had gone missing in the abandoned mines northwest of town. They decided to go after the children instead of tracking down the gnolls. They found evidence of the missing children in the 2nd mine trace. Entering the mine, they discovered undead miners and huge spiders, which they handily defeated. They continued on, but disaster soon struck!

While trying to cross a yawning pit, several of the party members fell into the hole and giant rats attacked soon after. When the blood and dust cleared, Marcus Tiro and Garrick, childhood friends, lay dead. The rest of the party, weakened by wounds and inflicted with rat fever, spent a miserable night in the infirmary while the rest of the town toasted the success of the Swords of Glynden, an adventuring group made up of several well-to-do townsfolk and their retainers. The Swords had tracked down a large band of gnolls and destroyed them.

The following day, Garrick and Marcus Tiro were laid to rest. One, Quintus Scipio, whose cousins had gone missing in the mine, interrupted the ceremony. He and his brother, Sextus, demanded the remaining party members assist them in recovering the children. Although irritated by his abrupt manner – Lew, Rowan and Rosë agreed. Returning to the abandoned mine, they searched high and low, finally discovering a hidden portal, which led to an abandoned complex deep within the mine. Skeletal archers, more undead miners and a stuttering human necromancer soon assaulted them. After a hard fight, they emerged victorious and discovered a nefarious laboratory, with all manner of alchemical substances, vials and equipment. They also discovered large amounts of food, water and mining equipment.

Stripping the dead necromancer and taking along a large chest, the party retreated from the mine. Rowan and Quintus stayed to keep watch on the mine, while the remainder hustled back to Glynden to refit and gather additional supplies. They arrived back in Glynden, only to find a major barbarian incursion was in the offing. After a hasty conference with Father Thomas – Lew, Sextus and Rosë returned, joined up with Quintus and Rowan and ventured back into the mine.

Rowan discovered the unholy power of a shrine dedicated to evil (to his dismay) and they finally found the children. They hustled the kids back to town, where they discussed the shrine with Father Thomas. He told them it was a shrine to the Cult of Ashai – an ancient assassin’s cult – and advised caution. They returned to the mine, mindful of the need to get back to Glynden before the arrival of the barbarians. They discovered some notes, a map and a journal kept by someone known only as “R”. They also discovered over 150 solidii worth of treasure (a veritable fortune)! Continuing on, they encountered a pit trap and some additional zombies. The ensuing combat left Rowan on the brink of death and Rosë badly wounded. Discretion being the better part of valor, they limped back to Glynden.

Barbarian warbands milled about town for a while, looking for something or someone then faded into the woodwork. The party prevailed on Father Thomas to accompany them to the ruined shrine. They arrived to find the laboratory cleaned up and cleaned out. When they attempted to enter the shrine room, a large band of undead attacked them, led by the rotting corpse of Luc the Necromancer. A very tough battle ensued and the party was victorious, thanks in large part to the help of Father Thomas. Exploring further, they found another secret door, which lead to a long underground passage that seemed to be the result of a long-dry underground river. They followed the passage for an hour before turning back.

After seeing Father Thomas safely back to Glynden, they decided to follow-up on some clues in the journal and explore the 5th and 6th mine traces, where a band of miners from the Monrovian Highlands were said to be working. Part way there, they ran into a barbarian warband led by Kothric, the son of a chieftain who was betrothed to Asralla (Rosë’s former lover). A running battle ensued and the party managed to capture Kothric with minimum damage (due in large part to Quintus’ Sleep spells). Following the battle, they learned much of Rosë’s amazing past. They returned the barbarian warrior to Glynden, then were tasked by the Council of Elders with transporting Kothric halfway to the Western Wilds and releasing him. They started to notice that one or two large ravens seemed to be shadowing their moves.

During the journey, Sextus and Quintus earned the barbarian warrior’s trust and he told them that the warbands were searching for a totem known as the Artosiak. As they released him, the poisoned arrow of an unknown assassin struck Kothric down. They attempted to heal him, but were forced to leave by the arrival of dozens of bloodthirsty tribesman. An epic chase began, with the party fleeing and the tribesmen hot on their trail. They took refuge an abandoned legion hill fort and slowly retreated as the barbarian warriors hacked at them. Rowan and Rosë discovered Asralla, Rosë’s one-time lover, hiding in the ruins and hauled her along in the retreat.

Just as the party was brought to bay, Asralla called upon the power of the Artosiak to transform into a great dire bear. The barbarian’s shaman responded by calling on a spirit bear. The two massive creatures raged against each other while the party and tribesmen hacked at each other. After a brutal fight, which left almost two-score tribesmen dead, the remainder of the barbarians fled and Asralla slumped to the ground, dying. With her last breath, she bade Rosë to care for their infant son!

Scarcely believing they were alive and badly wounded, the party found a hiding spot under a small church to Osirian within the ruins. Quintus, with the Artosiak faced down a large band of barbarians, trying to convince them that an unknown assassin had brought Kothric low and they meant the barbarians know harm. Just when it looked as though Quintus would be slain, Kothric revealed himself and the sorcerer was saved! The barbarians took their totem and retreated. The party, after poking about the hillfort for a short time and discovering an ancient burial crypt, hastened back to Glynden. They arrived to discover Quintus and Sextus’ father in a coma, that Sabrina Scipio had run off with Orsen Jucadius and that Quintus’ one-time lover Abrigal had disappeared!

They decided to resume their exploration of the 5th and 6th mining traces and discovered an abandoned mining camp just outside the 5th mineshaft. Exploring the shaft, they found lots of abandoned mining equipment, but no miners. They also discovered that someone or something was following them around the mine, setting traps. Exploring further, they ran into a group of small reptilian creatures that used magic and shot lots of crossbow bolts. Rowan remembered them as kobolds. After a hard battle, they defeated some kobolds, but found the mine to be riddled with small tunnels – too small for them to clamber about. They had captured one kobold and decided to take him to Glynden for questioning. During the return journey, a large raven swooped down and attacked the kobold, delivering a fatal shock to the poor creature!

Everyone fired at the bird, which managed to escape, despite several hits. They spent several days refitting in town, during which time they discovered that Quintus’ father had been poisoned. Quintus accused Josephus of Bremerton of using the herbal painkiller Krithroot to poison his father. During the “trial” that followed, Josephus as acquitted, although Quintus still had grave doubts about the woodsman.

The party decided to travel to Oar in order to:

• Find out more about the Cult of Ashai from the library in the Cathedral of Oar
  
• Try to reconcile Lew with is brother Marcus
  
• Warn the trading caravans coming from Oar about possible bandit attacks, since the caravans are the lifeblood of Glynden

The journey towards Oar proved both dangerous and heartbreaking.

Several days out of Glynden, the discovered a wrecked carraige belonging to the Cassuvius Family and several dead retainers near a beautiful picnic spot. Rowan determined that Gnoll bandits were responsible for the attack and the party trailed the bandits to their hideout...a crude cabin and barn in the midst of a ruined villa. A quick recon revealed at least half-a-dozen gnolls plus at least one human.

The party put together a hasty plan of attack and assaulted the compound. From the beginning, things went badly, and then got worse! Most of the bandits resisted Quintus' sleep magics and quickly counter-attacked. Rosë soon fell the to combined attacks of a pair of human rogues and most of the others were badly wounded. They soon heard cries for help from several women.

The gnoll leader, a huge brute dubbed "Scarnose", threatened to kill the captive women if the party didn't back away. Sextus tried desperately to save them, but the viscious gnoll cut the throats of Calian Cassuvius' three daughters before his horrified eyes!

Quintus fell shortly thereafter and the party retreated into the woods. Lew and Rosë in one direction - Rowan, Sextus and Quintus in another. All were badly wounded and it looked like the end was near!

Fortunately, the bandits decided to take their loot and flee, concerned about facing more searchers and/or rescuers. They took the goods they could easily carried and fired the rest. A heavy rainstorm prevented the fire from spreading into the woods and gave enough cover to the party to escape detection. Rowan, returning to the scene of their defeat, found one of the girls, Drusilla Cassuvius, barely alive with a terrible throat wound.

Lew was able to save the girls' life, but the wound was beyond his power to heal completely and she remains mute. The aftermath of the battle saw fierce debate on whether the party should turn back or continue. Drusilla made it clear that she did not want to return to Glynden, but was evasive about her reasons. In the end, they decided to continue on, after resting and healing.

Several party members returned to the site of the carraige wreck to bury the dead there and ran into an irrascable old trader, Lathan, and his overloaded mule Bogwell. They invited the strange old man to share their camp, swapped stories with him and traded coin for some the mountain of goods he had strapped to Bogwells' back. He drove a hard bargain for some items and let others go for a fraction of their worth. He cooked the group breakfast the next day and departed towards Glynden, carrying letters for Kyndalyn and Father Thomas.

All agreed that he was more than he appeared to be - a feeling confirmed by the fact that most of the items he had either sold them or handled the night before now bore faint magical auras, including: Crossbow bolts for Quintus and Sextus, handaxe for Rosë, a satchel of writing utensils for Quintus, Rowan's battered short sword, a large frying pan and a comb for Drusilla.

Shaking their heads, the party continued south.

After several days, they came upon the dead bodies of several retainers of the Swords of Glynden. The tracks Rowan read pointed to an ambush by gnolls. The gnolls had won and continued south. They buried the retainers and continued. A day later, sharp eyes of several party members prevented them from walking into their own ambush!

Four gnolls engaged the party from either flank, but without the element of suprise, the party emerged victorious with only a few scratches. They barely had time to savor their victory, however, since several of the gnolls had broken contact and fled towards the ruins of Greenspire. Soon, horn calls and gnoll howls echoed across the hills and a huge gnoll warband (about 40) began pursuing the party!

The chase was on, but the gnolls soon ran the party to ground. Selecting the best defensive ground they could and making a quick plan, the heroes turned to fight. Osirian smiled upon them - for a combination of good magic use and good luck soon eliminated about 1/4 of the gnolls. Then "Scarnose" made an appearence and rallied his troops, forming a dozen into a wedge to charge the party and demolish them!

A critical hit by Quintus with an ensorcelled crossbow bolt and a well-timed Hold Person spell by Lew on "Scarnose" broke the gnoll's spirit and the remainder of the warband broke and ran. Howling in triumph, Rosë leapt forward and hewed the head from "Scarnose". To his amazement, the head shimmered and changed into the bloody visage of a young, dark-haired human male. Quintus and Sextus noted a momentary look of shocked recognition on Drusilla's face.

Gathering what equipment they could, they beat a hasty retreat before the gnolls could regroup. Before they departed, however, Rosë grasped a dull black stone dagger pendant from the ruin of "Scarnose's" body and a shimmering portal opened in the air over his head! Rowan, thinking quickly, slapped the necklace from his hand and the portal soon dissapated. They took both the head and pendant with them.

As they traveled, virtually everyone felt that they were being watched. Quintus was afraid the necklace was the source of their unease, so they stashed it and then made camp some distance away.

After dinner that night, Quintus and Sextus questioned Drusilla about the dead human. Reluctantly, she told them that it was her stepbrother, Acrius' head and that discovery confirmed her fears about her stepmother's involvement in her abduction and her sisters' murders! Most of the party slept very poorly that night, haunted by dreams of a dark portal and dull stone dagger aimed at their hearts!

After a hard days' march, they succeeded in finding the caravan, which had encamped in the ruins of Greenspire. Among the loot they had taken from the body of "Scarnose"/Acrius was a missive from "R" to Skilorn, the bandit chieftain, imploring him to leave the caravan alone on the northern journey. Apparently the message had been delivered, since the caravan had arrived unmolested to that point.

Drusilla refused to enter the caravan encampment, since her erstwhile fiance, Tomas "The Bull" Nacalius and the other Swords of Glynden were traveling with the caravan.

Lew and Quintus found a church knight, Pantonius of Tyrial, and persuaded him to carry several messages to Father Thomas in Glynden. Rosë and Rowan took all of the gear they had acquired through several victories over the gnolls and tried to sell it to a halfling trader from House Schulcross. The trader drove a hard bargain and Rowan ended up trading everything for a Sythian horsebow and 50 arrows!

As we left of at the end of Session 10, the party was preparing to resume their travels to the City of Oar...

Current Plot Hooks

There are many things at play right now, including (in no particular order):

The Mysterious “R” and the Cult of Ashai – “R”, clearly a necromancer of some power, is up to no good in the abandoned western mines. What is she up to and how can they stop her? Also, what is her relationship, if any, to Skilorn the bandit king and Domita Sestius, second wife of Calian Cassivius?

Rosë and his Past – The barbarian’s checkered past has raised its ugly head several times.

Crimson and Black – The colors keep showing up…in the shrine of Ashai, the livery of the bandits operating around the ruins of Greenspire and Lew’s dreams.

The Felevar Arrow – The arrow fired into Kothric by the “Mystery Assassin” has been identified as a Felevar arrow.

Abrigal is Missing – Where has she disappeared to?

Quintus and Sextus’ Father was Poisoned – With the prime suspect Josephus off the hook (at least temporarily), who did it and why?

Sabrina Scipio and Orsen Jucadius – The brothers Scipio are none-to-happy about their wayward sister’s choices.

Rosë’s Child – The infant, named Gordius Vercinox, is currently in the care of the Scipio family. Will Rosë meet his parental responsibilities?

The Barbarians of the Western Wilds – What keeps them from crossing the Thunder River and wiping out the remains of the Lost Northern Provinces?

The Abandoned Hillfort – What secrets, if any, does the structure still hold? Will Sextus make good his claim upon the fort for the family Scipio?

Rowan and Maxima Scipio – Will the growing affection between them lead to something more?

Drusilla and her family - With family ties like hers, who needs enemies? Why is she so determined to get to Oar?

Drusilla and Quintus, Sextus and Rowan - She is beautiful and quiet...who will win her heart?

Stay tuned for more!

Old One

Supporting Players + Background Stuff

SUPPORTING PLAYERS

Brother Thomas - Abbott of Osirian in Glynden, Lew's superior, friend and mentor

Kyndalyn the Younger - Constable of Glynden. One of the few Caeldyn - or "Elven-blooded" - in town.

Bigglestrom "Boss" Brathwaite - Head of the Brathwaite Mining Company. Easily the richest and most powerful man in Glynden.

Ned Gallway - Boss Brathwaite's right hand man and mining foreman. Former boss and current enemy of Quintus.

Josephus of Bremerton - Trapper, tracker, tobacco-chewer and part-time militia scout. Hails from the town of Bremerton, sacked several winters ago by a barbarian horde. Accussed by Quintus of trying to poison Quintus and Sextus' father. Acquitted during a trial administered by Father Thomas and Kyndalyn.

Octave Octorus, Tomas "Bull" Nacalius and Orsen Jucadius - Sons of three of the wealthier families in town, they have started calling themselves the Swords of Glynden. They used to pick on both Marcus Tiro and Garrick when younger. Tomas was once friends with Quintus, but wealth and status have grown up between them. The Bros. Scipio beautiful (but foolish) younger sister, Sabrina, is currently the consort of Orsen Jucadius.

"Uncle" Claudius Sentenius - An increasingly senile battlemage that was mustered out of the Legions before they sailed for Emor 30 winters ago. Still capable of some feats of magic, but spends most of his waking hours in his cups at Nan's Tavern.

Kothric - Barbarian chieftan defeated, but later befriended, by the party. Betrothed to Asralla, the deceased one-time lover of Rose.

Asralla - Daughter of a barbarian warlord who was betrothed to Kothric. Fell in love with Rose and bore his child. Sacrificed herself to save Rose and the party during a battle in an old hillfort.

Brother Patroclian - Charismatic traveling priest of Osirian from the Jewel Cities who befriended Lew's younger brother, Marcus. Departed Glynden some time ago with Marcus in tow.

Skilorn - Bandit chieftain, thought to be gnollish, that is plaguing the area between Glynden and the port city of Oar.

Lathan and Bogwell - Strange trader and his overburdened mule encountered by the party. Sold them a variety of goods, some of which turned out to be magical.

Drusilla Cassuvius - Only Cassuvius daughter to survive a murder attempt by "Scarnose" the gnoll, who turned out to be her step-brother Acrius Sestius under magical disguise. Currently traveling with the party. The murder attempt left her mute. Rowan and Quintus are vying for her attentions.

Domita Sestius Cassuvius - 2nd wife of Calian Cassuvius and step-mother to Drusilla. Suspected of being behind the attempt on the Cassuvius daughters' lives.

THE VILLAGE OF GLYNDEN

Location and History: Nestled betwixt two rocky ridges at the southern end of the Dragon’s Tail range lies the mining and farming village of Glynden. It began as a collection of ragged tents around a single mine shaft over 250 winters ago. Once a part of the Imperial Theme of Lords, Glynden is one of the few holdings in the Lost Northern Provinces that has not been overrun by barbarians or the Felevar (Fels for short). Glynden was once the home of the 4th Cohort of the Rustica Auxilia and has significant, if crumbling, fortifications that have helped it survive. In addition, it is not adjacent to any of the major trade routes, so it attracts little attention.

Nevertheless, Glynden has survived ½ dozen barbarian incursions since the legions withdrew 30 winters ago. Several times, the village has come close to disaster, but has recovered each time. Several neighboring hamlets have been destroyed in recent years and their survivors now call Glynden home (Aquae Sulis, Ironoak, Greenspire and Bremerton - all but Aquae Sulis within five days walk of Glynden). Perhaps 700 souls now reside in Glynden and they make their living primarily from mining the rich iron and tin deposits in the surrounding hills and through farming.

Glynden boasts a large militia (about 100 – 10 always on duty, 50 within 1 hour, 100 with 3 hours) and their constant watchfulness help keeps danger at bay. Glynden is also the home of an ex-Emorian battlemage, who was mustered out of the legions just before they withdrew – Claudius Sentenius. “Uncle Claudius”, as the village children know him, is old and forgetful, but he can still call up some magical energy when the situation is desperate (he will also tutor aspiring wizards in simple spells, but the instruction process is long and arduous, as he often falls asleep during lessons or is too drunk to make much sense). The final reason for the village’s survival is that it lies within the shadow of Dragonspire Mountain. The barbarians, Fels and Dark Druids all give Dragonspire Mountain a wide berth, for it has an evil reputation.

Both legends and eyewitnesses agree that Dragonspire Mountain is the home of a great and terrible elder wyrm who has resided on the mountain’s peaks for over a century. The dragon does not bother Glynden or the other few surviving communities in the Lost Northern Provinces, but has been known to descend on large groups of armed men and utterly destroy them. Several barbarian hordes and Felevar armies are said to have perished under dragon fire and claw. Also, no one has ever successfully visited the dragon’s lair (and lived to tell the tale). Those few that have ventured close to the summit and returned tell tales of being chased away by a band of fearsome rock trolls. The trails and paths that lead to the upper reaches of the mountain are strewn with the skeletal remains of those that have sought the wyrm’s treasure and failed (each skeleton is laid out in a neat pile, skull on top, with their mundane gear stacked neatly beside it – no treasure or magical items are ever found among the remains). Some few report seeing a tall, slender tower rising into the mists on the highest peak of the mountain, but most reporting such a sight were found wandering aimlessly about the base, dazed and confused.

Curiously, the great wyrm has never bothered Glynden and most of the villagers seek to discourage would-be adventurers from stirring up trouble on the mountain.

Leadership: Glynden is ruled by a “Council of Elders”. They meet weekly in the Council Chamber located next to the market square to administer justice and discuss problems facing the village. The Council meetings are generally open to all and usually take place on the evening of Market Day. See Important Personages for those who sit on the Council.

Trade/Outside Relations: Traders come to Glynden two or three times a year, trading finished goods and luxury items for iron and tin ore, foodstuffs and the hardy mountain ponies bred at several of the surviving villas. Only large, well-armed caravans make the trip and they are normally controlled by one of the halfling trading families. Local craftsmen of note include a decent blacksmith, a good stonemason, an excellent leatherworker and a fair bowyer. All other finished goods must be imported (chief among these is metal armor – such as chain mail and the lorica segmentata). Horses, especially trained war mounts, are in very short supply (and very expensive), most families use mountain ponies, mules or ox-carts for transportation.

Other travelers are fairly rare, especially after the Suevi tribe sacked Bremerton 2 winters ago. Bremerton was the closest thing Glynden had for a trading partner, but the town, four days walk to the west and north, is now a deserted ruin. Those few that survived the attack now call Glynden home. Occasionally, a bard or tinker will stop in Glynden, bringing word from Oar or the Monrovian Highlands. Also, adventuring bands regularly use the village as a way stop in their forays into the North.

As often as not, the bright-eyed, eager youths that leave Glynden boasting of the deeds they will do return hard-eyed with terrible wounds and even worse tales – or fail to return at all. The jaded gamblers at Nan’s Tavern now lay wagers on who will or won’t return and those that bet against the adventurers win all too often. Perhaps two in three of the lads and lasses that pass through Glynden as fortune seekers are never heard from again.

Important Personages: There are still several veins of iron and tin that are actively mined, with perhaps half a hundred miners working the lodes. All of the miners currently work for the Brathwaite Mining Company, run by “Boss” Bigglestrom Brathwaite, easily the richest (and most powerful) man in Glynden. Several smaller operations have closed in recent months due to cave-ins or monstrous attacks. Boss Brathwaite has hired the remaining workers from the shuttered operations and actually expanded his own. Some in Glynden grumble that the misfortunes at the other mining operations were no coincidence, but Brathwaite denies any wrongdoing. Boss Brathwaite sits on the Council of Elders.

Calian Cassuvius is probably the second most important citizen of Glynden, even though he doesn’t live in the village proper. He and his family live in Castellan Cassuvius a large, fortified villa an hour’s walk south of Glynden. He is a tall man of aristocratic bearing, although almost 70 winters have stooped his shoulders a bit. Local lore holds that the Cassuvius family has held the villa for over eight hundred years!

The family Cassuvius still affects the style of Imperial Emor, in speech, dress and attitude. It is said that a visit to their holding is like returning to the glory days of the Empire, 300 winters hence. They hold a lavish banquet once a year, inviting the notables of Glynden and the other local villas. Calian regularly bemoans the fact that most “necessary luxuries” are so difficult to come by these days and is known to pay well for interesting works of art. The three greatest treasures that reside in Castellan Cassuvius, however, are Calian’s three daughters – Ludmilla, Drusilla and Carmilla – all great beauties of marriable age.

The ponies bred by Calian and his charges are said to be the swiftest and sturdiest within two weeks ride. Castellan Cassuvius also produces ample wheat and barley in its high-walled fields. Perhaps four score people call the Cassuvius compound home, and they are not counted among the inhabitants of the village. Calian Cassuvius sits on the Council of Elders. Three other fortified villas still exist, held by the Jucadius, Nacalius and Octorus families. Each of these families also holds a seat on the Council of Elders.

Young Father Thomas maintains the small abbey dedicated to the Church of Light. It is open to all who are “welcomed” into the Church. Father Thomas has ministered to the needs of the local parishioners since Father Holthyn disappeared while returning from one of the outlaying villas five winters ago. Two Acolytes of the First Mystery and four Lay Brothers assist Father Thomas at the abbey. Father Thomas holds a seat on the Council of Elders.

Kyndalyn the Younger commands the village militia. His father, Kyndalyn the Fair, his uncle, Farinmail, and their pack of staghounds succeeded in defeating a large war-band from the Averni tribe on a tall hill just to the southwest of Glynden. The Averni, over 90 strong, came at the town in the dead of night, in a heavy snowfall, just after the Midwinter’s Eve celebration. Had it not been for the watchfulness of Kyndalyn and Farinmail, it is likely that the village would have suffered the same fate as many of the others throughout the North.

Some in the village reported hearing sounds of battle, but the swirling winds made it impossible to discern the direction. The following morning, the rising Eye of Osirian illuminated a terrible sight. Atop the rocky tor, not 700 paces from the village gate, stood Kyndalyn the Fair, dead and rimed in ice, twin blades still clutched in unfeeling hands, amidst a circle of fallen foes. Kyndalyn, Farinmail and their score of hounds had all traveled to the Deathsgate – but so had every single one of the Averni! The grieving villagers built a lofty cairn over the brothers and their faithful hounds and to this day the hill is known as Kyndalyn’s Watch.

All of these events occurred 20 winters ago, when Kyndalyn the Younger was but a babe. Today he is a grim-faced young man of few words. He drills the militia hard, but is regarded as a fair leader. It is said that he rarely sleeps and spends much time patrolling the countryside around Glynden. His slightly pointed ears and straw-colored hair betray his elven heritage, for he is of the Caeldyn. Kyndalyn the Younger holds the title of Constable of Glynden and sits on the Council of Elders.

Threats/Opportunities: The greatest threats to Glyndon’s survival are the barbarian tribes of the Western Wilds. Raiding bands of numerous tribes have been seen in the area in the past several moons and the Council of Elder is concerned that one or more tribes may try to sack the village, destroying it as they did Bremerton. To make matters worse, one of the militia patrols clashed with several Fels recently, so those fey and evil creatures may be moving down from the Darkwood, looking for plunder and a “hot” meal.

The entire North, however, is dotted with lost ruins. Cities, abbeys, towns, towers, old dwarven holds and deserted legion forts are everywhere. Many have undoubtedly been picked clean by bold adventurers, but who knows what may still lie buried out there.

Old One

Session 1 (Part One)

Of Rats and Men...

A fine spring day in the Lost Northern Provinces...overcast and chilly, with the threat of rain to come later. A recurrence of Rosë's stomach ailment returned him to the Abbey of Osirian and the care of Father Thomas (Rosë's player - John - was unable to make the session due to car problems). Lew, Garrick and Marcus Tiro were taking their mid-day meal at Nan's Tavern (mutton stew, day-old pumpernickel bread and slightly overripe radishes) when a red-faced Rowan burst into the tavern. Kyndalyn the Younger and two militia men, Vittius and Sanio were close on his heels.

"Gnolls!" he blurted out breathlessly. "Over by King's Mountain (referrencing a low, wooded hill about a league southwest of Glynden), the Old Man left me a warning totem, they are definitely heading this way and up to some kind of mischief!"

The others exchanged knowing glances. "Did the Old Man tell you this himself?" queried Garrick with a barely suppressed smirk.

"No", replied Rowan, face darkening slightly at the implication that his friends didn't really "believe" in the existence of the Old Man, "he left this." Rowan held up a bundle of bark with some symbols scratched into it and several feathers attached. "I know it doesn't look like much, but I swear its true!"

Kyndalyn stepped forward and in his usual gruff manner growled, "We don't have time for idle banter. Real or imagined, we must see if this rumor holds truth. Marcus Tiro, fetch your gear and come with Rowan, Vittius, Sanio and myself. Would you two care to join us?" He nodded towards Lew and Garrick.

Lew sighed, "Let me fetch my stave and medical kit."

Garrick plucked at his sleeve, "Shouldn't we let the militia handles this? I've never seen a gnoll before, but they sound dangerous!"

Lew shot Garrick a withering look and the halfling ducked his head, embarrassed. "Let me gather a few things," he mumbled sheepishly.

Within 15 turns of the minute glass, the small group passed through the gates and started heading southwest. Kyndalyn instructed the gate guards to call up the reserve and double the wall guard...just in case. Kyndalyn and Rowan ranged ahead of the group by half a spear's throw, moving quickly and quietly through the light woods and tangled underbrush. Soon, the rocky promentory of King's Mountain appeared ahead and Kyndalyn guided the party to a hiding place on the Northeast side of the summit.

"Rowan, with me," he whispered, "the rest of you stay put and stay quiet." With that, Kyndalyn and Rowan crept to the top of the hillock and hunkered down, looking and listening. Before long, Kyndalyn's sharp ears picked up movement below and the pair could see several forms moving along a game path, about a bowshot distant.

Carefully backing off the hill, they returned to the rest of the party and Kyndalyn led them around to the Southeast and into some large rocks just above the game trail. "Prepare yourself," he whispered, "they should be here very soon. Do not attack until I loose."

He unslung his long bow and placed several arrows tip down in the ground within easy reach. Rowan did the same with his short bow, Garrick loaded his light crossbow with trembling hands - mumbling something about the lunacy of leaving the comfort of Nan's Tavern, and the rest of the group readied their weapons and waited. Lew quietly called for the Blessing of Osirian on all present and each member of the party felt their spirits and sword arms strengthen.

Soon, they could hear low, gutteral voices and the voices were followed by four gnolls. The were all dressed in ill-fitting leather armor, reinforced by small metal studs and plates. The lead gnoll had a large wooden shield slung over his back and rested a notched axe on his shoulder. The next two in line also carried axes, but also carried a large wicker cage, suspended from a long wooden pole, in which several large grey-furred creatures squirmed. The last gnoll had a long bow and quiver slung across its back and shouldered a long, heavy-headed spear-like weapon. The gnolls seemed unaware of the party's presence.

Just as Kyndalyn was drawing an arrow to his ear, a high-pitched buzzing sound filled the air and an arrow, coming from the other side of the trail, buried itself in a beech tree a pace or two away from the last gnoll in line. Stunned, for a moment, the last gnoll barked an order, stuck his spear-weapon in the ground point first and unslung his bow. The rest of the gnolls crouched low, gripping their weapons and looking about uncertainly. The gnolls attention was riveted to the right side of the trail and the party was positioned on the left.

"At them!" yelled Kyndalyn, loosing an arrow. Rowan and Garrick followed suit, but the first volley fell ineffectually among the gnolls. Rowan targeted the gnoll with the bow, but it twisted aside at the last minute, causing his arrow to glance off its armored chest. Marcus Tiro, Vittius and Sanio raised their shields and moved forward cautiously through the rocks.

The two gnolls with the wicker cage ducked behind a large tree for cover. The lead gnoll hefted his axe and shield and charged up the hill, seeking an opponent and the gnoll with the bow returned fire at Rowan, striking him solidly. Rowan staggered and almost fell, but Lew stepped forward and called upon the power of Osirian to heal his friend. A nimbus of blue-white light surround the cleric's hands and Rowan felt a surge of power as his greivous wound closed!

A second volley of missles by the party was as impotent as the first. Then the gnolls that had ducked behind the tree charged up the hill, led by three huge, slavering rats as big as Garrick! The battle soon degenerated into a confused melee, with gnolls, rats and militia men hacking, biting and slashing at each other.

Vittius charged down the hill to engage the bow-weilding gnoll, only to be shot through the lung from less than 5 paces away. Sanio stepped around a boulder and straight into the waiting axes of two gnolls. He fell quickly from several powerful axe blows. Marcus Tiro met the charge of a gnoll and two rats, holding the line and preventing the center of the party from being overrun. Kyndalyn fired one last shot from his bow, wounding a gnoll, then discarded it in favor of two short swords. Garrick crouched behind a tree, taking pot shots at enemies as the opportunity presented itself. Finally, Rowan engaged in an arrow duel with the gnoll archer.

Marcus Tiro dealt several solid blows before his multiple opponents dropped him, bleeding severely from numerous grave wounds. Reaching deep within himself and overcoming his fear, Garrick felled the gnoll that had just smashed Marcus Tiro to the ground with a bolt right though its vile throat. Then he sprinted forward to try to staunch the blood flowing from Marcus Tiro's wounds. Kyndalyn quickly dispatched one gnoll and engaged another, although he took a wound to the thigh. Rowan hit the gnoll archer with a glancing shot, but was rewarded by an arrow in the chest and slumped to the ground. Again, Lew stepped forward and chanelled the power of Osirian into his friend, reviving him from his stupor.

Garrick slapped a makeshift bandage on the worst of Marcus Tiro's injuries, stemming the flow of red blood, but was immediately set upon by two of the huge rats. Unable to fend them off, he fell beneath their slavering bites. Meanwhile, Kyndalyn finished off the gnoll he was facing, side-stepped and skewered one of the rats atop Garrick. As Rowan pulled himself back up, another rat rounded a boulder and flung itself on him. Lew stepped forward and struck it with his stave, cracking its foreleg. Undaunted, the pain maddened rat continued to lunge at them. The gnoll archer, seeing an opportunity, shifted his fire from the armored Rowan to the unarmored Lew and put an arrow into his ribs, dropping him to the ground and leaving him on the verge of unconsiousness. Rowan ducked behind a boulder, drew his short sword and attempted to finish off the wounded rat, which managed to slip aside and dodge his blow.

Kyndalyn's sure blow felled the second of the three rats and, leaving the final rat to Rowan, the constable charged down the hill toward the gnoll archer. The gnoll shifted his aim to the charging Kyndalyn, but only grazed him. The remaining rat, preferring a defenseless target to an active one, lunged forward and sank its teeth into Lew's prone form, sending him into blackness. Again, Rowan, slashed at the rat and again the pesky rodent rolled under his blow.

The gnoll archer dropped his bow and lunged for his spear-weapon, but Kyndalyn got there first and eviscerated the dog-man with two well-placed thrusts. Back up the hill, the rat ducked under Rowan's guard and sank its teeth into his leg. Waves of pain rolled over Rowan and he came close to falling, but he focused his anger and finally pinned the rodent to the ground with his short sword, severing its spine.

Their enemies vanquished, Kyndalyn and Rowan quickly saw to their friends. Despite the bodies littering the ground, only Sanio had travelled to Deathsgate. Only Marcus Tiro's youth and hardy constitution prevented him from following, for he was sorely wounded.

(DM Note: I use a house rule that "Death's Door" is -10 +/- CON modifier - Marcus Tiro got down to -11, one away from death)

Lew, Garrick and Vittius - although badly hurt - were not in danger of expiring immediately. Kyndalyn left Rowan to guard the fallen and ran back to Glynden for help.

Several times, Rowan thought he heard movement, but did not see any dangers approaching. After what seemed like eons to Rowan, but was, in reality only an hour and a quarter, Kyndalyn returned with an ox-cart and Lew's brother Marcus, from the Abbey of Osirian. Marcus invoked Osirian's power to return all but Vittius to wakefulness. They did a quick search of the area, stripped the gnolls of their weapons and armor, discovered a small pouch of denarii and sestercii on the body of the archer along with a crude map of the area around Glynden. It was marked with several "Xs" and some writing that stated "Beware of K". They found no trace of the arrow that had warned the gnolls just before their ambush, although they searched for it extensively. Just "Who" or "What" had fired that arrow, they all pondered.

With nighttime approaching, they returned to Glynden. Lew and Marcus, brothers in blood and in the service of Osirian, said nary a word to each other on the return trip. The entire party, along with Vittius, where housed in the Abbey infirmary that evening so Father Thomas could look after their wounds. That precaution turned out to be warranted, as both Marcus Tiro and Rowan took a serious fever from their rat bites before the next morning. Garrick and Lew followed close on their heels. Even with the assistance of Father Thomas and the miracles of Osirian, it was several days before all of them returned to full health.

During that time, Lew's brother Marcus departed Glynden in the company of Brother Patroclian, a visiting cleric of Osirain from the Jewel Cities, bound for the port city of Oar - three weeks journey to the South. He left without any reconciliation with Lew as the two stubbornly refused to talk to each other. As they recovered, they debated whether they wanted to follow-up on the map they had discovered or search for two children, Meikos and Wynda Usaris who had gone missing in the abandoned mine traces West of Glynden.

After consulting Kyndalyn, they opted to try to locate the kids first and set out for the abandoned Western Traces...

To Be Continued...

Next: Session 1 (Part Two): Look out for the Miner 49er...

(DM's Note: The first battle was almost the last for the group. I roll attack and damage rolls in the open and had some seriously "hot" dice, including two criticals - fortunately by rats - not gnolls. The party, on the other hand, couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with their missile fire - 0 hits in the first six shots and didn't do much better in melee. They also made a couple of minor tactical errors. Despite not having any ranks in Heal or a proper bandage, Garrick rolled a "20" to stabilize Marcus Tiro, who was one hit point away from traveling to Deathsgate. All-in-all, a VERY tough fight. It probably would have gone easier if Rosë had been there - maybe next time!)

Session 1 (Part Two)

Look out for the Miner 49er...

What little information they had on the kids was their ages (12 and 10), what they were wearing when last seen and the general vicinity they were last seen in. A significant storm rolled through the area the night they disappeared and there was conjecture that they might have taken refuge in one of the old mines.

The party (Lew, Garrick, Marcus Tiro and Rowan) set out on the morning of Marktday (Market Day), passing several carts of produce straining up the switchback trail to bring their goods - mainly spring wheat, turnips and "Cor-apples" (an apple-like plant that blooms in the spring). Garrick "liberated" a cor-apple from one of the carts and munched on the tangy fruit as they marched. The day was actually sunny and pleasant, with a slight breeze blowing out of the southwest.

The last of the Western Trace mines had been abandoned about three winters earlier, when the Kolthir Mining Company folded after losing a dozen miners in the space of several weeks to an unknown menace. Garrick piped in that he had heard from Nan about a band of miners from Clan MacGlowan in the Monrovian Highlands who had passed through while they were laid up and indicated they planned to set-up operations in two of the abandoned western mining shafts.

About mid-day, Rowan located two sets of fairly fresh tracks along the 2nd trace and thought they lead into the mouth of the mine.

(DM's Note: A mining trace is the detrius left over from the mining operation. It is usually a mixture of silt, stones and worthless "tracings" of whatever metal is being mined piled up outside of the mine entrance. They usually stretch for a bowshot or more away from the mine.)

The intrepid band reached the yawning mouth of the mine, where the tracks disappeared into inky darkness. Everyone paused and they looked at each other expectantly. Marcus Tiro asked, "Alright...who brought the torches?"

It was quickly determined that no one had a ready light source, so a lunch break was called while Marcus Tiro rushed back to town and purchased some torches, flint and steel! On the way back out, he told the gate guards where they think the children may be. After that brief interlude, the party descended into the mining tunnels. Every five paces or so, thick wooden support beams braced the walls and the ceiling.

They quickly came to a four-way intersection. Ahead, they saw what looked to be a rail system, while the tunnels on the right and left were boarded up about 5 paces in. There was a 2-pace by 2-pace hole knocked out of the boards covering the right hand tunnel and the dust on the other side looked to Rowan like it had been recently disturbed, so they decided to head off in that direction.

After some shuffling about..."You hold the torch, I must have my hands free for my sword and shield."..."No, I can't use my staff if I hold the torch and what if I have to call upon the miracles of Osirian?"...they finally proceeded down the tunnel, which turned to the left after 25 or so paces. Continuing forward, the tunnel opened up into a larger chamber, perhaps 20 paces in width and another 40 in length.

(DM's Note: A "pace" IMC is about 2 feet.)

Around the perimeter of the chamber, the party saw the cracked remains of wooden bunk beds, mostly fallen in on each other. Rotted bedding was strewn about the room and piles of fist-sized stones lay in several places where part of the ceiling had fallen in. They moved cautiously into the chamber and start working their way down the left hand wall. As they passed the third bunk, they heard a low moan and a dessicated hand swiped at Rowan. Rising from the ruin of the bed was the rotted remains of a long-dead miner, pick-axe still clutched in its undead hands.

Lew stepped forward, raised the sunburst symbol of Osirian and called upon the righteous might of the One True God to send the abomination to its final rest. Bluish-White light flared and the corpse cringed from the power of Osirian and fled away from Lew. Marcus Tiro and Rowan pursued it and quickly hacked it to pieces in the far corner of the chamber. They quickly noticed that there was a stout door near that corner and an exit passage close by.

While they were discussing what to do next, several more moans issued from the passage and three more undead miners shambled forth, fixing hateful gazes upon the party and raising rusty pick-axes. Again, Lew stepped forward and reached deep within himself - calling forth resevoirs of strength from Osirian. "Begone from here," he shouted,"return to the dust!"

A blinding blue-white light sprang from Lew and engulfed the three unnatural foes, consuming them in holy flames! Three pick-axes clattered loudly to the floor, scattering the zombie dust. Garrick looked at Lew with awe and admiration, "Can you teach ME to do that!"

(DM's Note: One of Lew's Domains is Sun and he rolled REALLY well on this "Greater Turning" check.)

Garrick, Marcus Tiro and Rowan turned their attention to the door, while Lew kept watch down the passage, confident that Osirian would help him defeat any further incursions by the undead abominations. The door proved to be stoutly locked and wouldn't budge, despite the best efforts of Marcus Tiro and Rowan. "Let me take a look at that," Garrick said.

The dexterous halfling quickly overcame the door's lock and Marcus Tiro shouldered the door open and peered inside. Numerous crates, barrels and boxes were stacke haphazardly about the 10-pace diameter chamber, which was also covered with cobwebs. Just as Marcus Tiro was about to turn and inform his companions, he felt a "plop" on his back. Rowan and Garrick's eyes widened as an enormous black and orange banded spider dropped down a web filament onto their companion's back.

"Aaaaggghhhh!" screamed Marcus Tiro as the creature's mandibles, dripping with yellowish liquid, sank into his flesh. Dropping his torch, which sputtered but did not extinguish, he tried to flip over on his back and crush the monster underneath him. Unfortunately, his feet tangled and he fell into a heap. The spider nimbley raised itself on it's web strand for a moment, then dropped on his chest, mandibles clashing. From the interior of the room, Rowan and Garrick could see two more of the monstrosities advancing toward the prone Marcus Tiro.

Garrick loaded his crossbow and tried to jump up on one of the bunks to get a shot into the room. The rotten wood crumbled under him and he sprawled on the floor, discharging his crossbow. Rowan drew his short sword and moved up to attack. Marcus Tiro attempted to squash one of the spiders with his bare hands and received another viscious bite for his trouble. This wound burned like the fires of hell itself and Marcus Tiro suddenly felt weaker.

The second spider dropped on him, but its mandibles failed to penetrate his armor. The third scuttled over to the fallen halfling and sank its mandibles into his prone form, drawing a scream of pain from Garrick as he felt a wave of weakness wash over him. Undaunted, however, Garrick rolled to his feet and pulled out a dagger.

Hearing the screams of agony, Lew rushed to aid his companions and in short order, the floor was covered with spider ichor as short sword, dagger, stave and bare hands did their work (although not before Marcus Tiro suffered another painful bite that weakened him even further). The party rested for a few moments, then determined that they would leave the storage room alone for the time being and continue to search for the missing children.

To Be Continued...

Next: Session 2 (Part One) - Four Rats and a Hole

Old One

Session 2 (Part One)

When we last left off, our intrepid band had just defeated several undead miners and some very large and very nasty spiders.

Four Rats and a Hole...

Marcus Tiro and Garrick's spider bites still burned, leaving them light-headed and weakened. Before pressing on, they decided to examine the contents of the storage chamber. Garrick and Marcus Tiro rummaged through the boxes, crates and barrels - discovering a variety of mining equipment including picks and shovels, lanterns and several casks of lamp oil.

They quickly replaced their sputtering torches with a lantern, prepared another as a reserve and rejoined Rowan and Lew in the subterranean bunk house.

Back in town, while the party was waltzing with zombies and doing the cha-cha with venomous arachnids, Rosë hauled himself out of his cot in the Abbey infirmary. "I can stay here no longer," he mumbled through gritted teeth, "the others are out matching blades with great dangers while I lay here mewling like a newborn kitten!"

He readied his gear, heedless of the cramps that continued to twist his innards and the sweat dampening his forehead and stumbled out into the sunlight for the first time in a week. The gate guards exchanged quizzical looks as the unkempt barbarian, slightly hunched and in obvious pain, demanded to know where his companions were. Rosë grunted his thanks, hefted his sword and departed to the Northwest, wincing in pain with every step.

(DM's Note: Rosë was still suffering from his stomach ailment and at an effective -1 to both STR and CON.)

The main party started down the passageway leading out of the chamber with the ruined bunks, with Rowan scouting slightly ahead. After 30 paces, the rough hewn corridor turned to the left. As they started to make the turn, several of the party members thought they could here faint shouting echoing through the area. The group shuffled to a halt and everyone stood still for a moment, heads cocked, listening intently.

No additional sounds were heard. "Probably just air moving throught the mine shafts," Lew speculated.

They hadn't gone 5 paces before they heard the noise again and several thought they actually heard their names being called. After a hasty conference, the party backtracked towards the mine entrance, where they found Rosë leaning on his sword and bellowing, "Lew, Garrick...Rowan, Marcus Tiro!" at the top of his lungs in heavily accented Tradespeak.

Eyeing the sweating barbarian, Rowan inquired with a raised eyebrow, "I thought you were sick."

His face reflecting continuing internal distress, Rosë replied through gritted teeth, "I got better!"

United again, the party decided to travel down the main tunnel, following the mine cart track. Within 60 paces, they reached a four-way juncture, with the mine cart tracks continuing forward into the darkness. In the center of the juncture, the floor hand fallen out, leaving a gaping 4 to 5 pace hole. The floor around the hole was fractured in numerous places and the fault lines radiated outwards for a pace or more in some places and looked unstable. The mine cart track and crosspieces were intact and looked stable.

Quickly deciding on a course of action, Rowan deftly secured a length of rope to himself and tied the other end around Garrick. The nimble halfling balanced himself on one of the rails and crossed the chasm with no difficulty, securing the rope on the other side to one of the cross-ties.

In short order, Rosë and Lew crossed, using the rope secured to Rowan on one side and the cart track on the other side to steady themselves. Marcus Tiro looked suspiciously at the arrangement for a moment, started to say something, then shrugged his broad shoulders and started across.

On the far side, Rosë and Garrick strained to see past the feeble light thrown off by the lantern on the ground at Rowan's feet. Garrick felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise as his keen ears picked up some chittering sounds in the darkness. He readied his crossbow and nodded to Rosë, who hefted his sword. As four pairs of glowing yellow eyes appeared from the shadows, a loud scream from behind caused the pair to jump!

"Clumsy oaf," Marcus Tiro cursed under his breath as he slipped from the rail midway through the crossing. He desperately grasped for the guide rope, but it eluded his outstretched hands. The cart rail proved equally difficult to obtain a purchase on. Arms windmilling in a doomed attempt to fly, Marcus Tiro disappeared into the pit - the sound of his own screaming filling his ears.

Rowan stared with disbelief as his friend disappeared into the yawning hole. He clearly heard the fighter crash heavily onto the floor below and detected a faint moan. "We've got rats!" Garrick yelled on the far side. After a moments hesitation, Rowan maneuvered near the edge of the hole and used the rope still attached to his waist to rappel to the bottom. He had just enough length to make it.

Above, things were not going well for Lew, Rosë and Garrick. As the enormous rats bounded out of the tunnel, yellow eyes and yellow teeth shining, Garrick's first panicked shot missed by a large margin and the bolt shattered against the ceiling. The barbarian stepped forward and prepared to meet the charging rats. Rosë swung his sword in a vicious arc when the first rat came within reach. The nimble rodent danced aside and Rosë's momentum carried his stroke into the wall with crushing force, badly bending the tip of his sword!

(DM's Note: On his first attack, our barbarian friend rolled a crit fumble, seriously damaging his sword - that was the highlight of his combat!)

Then the rats were upon them! Three of the rats swarmed onto Rosë and one slipped past to attack Garrick. The barbarian swung desperately at the one that scurried past him, but his sword cut naught but air. His attention diverted for a moment, all three rats he was facing squirmed past his guard and sank their teeth into the barbarian is several places - including a severe wound in one thigh. Rosë slumped against the cold stone wall, barely retaining consciousness.

Garrick flung down his crossbow and whipped out a dagger. He sidestepped the lunge of halfling-sized rodent and slashed at with his dagger. The rat jumped aside and Garrick connected with the floor, shattering the dagger into metallic slivers.

(DM's Note: Critical fumble number 2!)

Meanwhile, down in the pit, Rowan located the badly injured Marcus Tiro and tried to bandage him up the best he could in the feeble light filtering down from above. He utterd a quick prayer to Osirian and began climbing back up the rope to aid his companions.

Above, things had gone from bad to worse. Rosë, barely on his feet, made a feeble swipe at a rat, but his waning strength and damaged blade combined to rob the strike of any power and the dexterous rodent easily rolled away from the blow. Garrick desperately pulled another weapon and struck out wildly, failing to connect. Lew stepped up and swung his staff at the rat attacking the halfling. He struck it with a glancing blow, leaving a small mark, but not slowing the slavering rodent appreciably.

The rats surged forward, chittering and biting with their yellowed teeth. Rosë crumbled before their assault and dropped, bleeding from several wounds. The rat facing Garrick easily evaded the halfling's waving dagger and leaped through the halfling's guard, tearing a huge hunk of flesh from his shoulder. Garrick's world darkened as the halfling fell heavily to the floor. "Boy those are big teeth," he thought to himself as he passed out from blood loss.

Lew, suddenly facing four vicious rodents with only a staff and a thin robe to keep them at bay, stepped back and sent a fervent prayer to Osirian, praying for the Lightbringer to grant him Sanctuary from his enemies until help arrivet. Three of the rats lose interest in Lew, but the fourth shook its head after a momentary pause, sending saliva and foam flying, then narrowed its already beady eyes and continued forward, nipping the cleric on the leg.

Lew scrambled back across the pit, without the aid the guide rope (which is still attached to Rowan), just as Rowan heaved himself from the pit, pulling his trusty shortsword and assuming a defensive stance. On the other side, Lew hefted several fist-sized rocks and prepared to hurl them at the rats.

Despite his significant defensive abilities, Rowan's contest with the rats was an unequal one. The wily rodents, working as a team, managed to get past the ranger's guard numerous times, opening small wounds on his calf, forearm and hand. Lew, separated by the pit from his friend, hurled stone after stone, to little effect. One emboldened rodent tried to flank Rowan and the ranger's shortsword flashed down, cleaving it in twain!

Soon, however, the remaining rats leave Rowan staggering and Lew attemped to re-cross the pit to aid the ranger. Halfway there, in a replay of Marcus Tiro's ill-fated crossing, Lew lost his balance and was swallowed by the pit. A moment later, a rat ducked under Rowan's blade and bit down hard on his shin. The weakened ranger, unable to fight off the waves of pain, slowly fell backward into the hole - disappearing into the murk.

To Be Continued...

Next: Session 2 (Part Two) - From Bad to Worse

Old One

Session 2 (Part Two)

From Bad to Worse...

The mantle of Osirian himself must have been protecting Lew, for the cleric received fairly minor injuries from his swan dive into the pit - despite falling about 15 paces!

(DM's Note: I rolled 3d6 for the falling damage and rolled 1, 1, 2 - I believe Lew had 5 hit points left - bringing him to 1 HP!)

Rowan, the rope still tied around his waist, had his fall partially arrested by the length of hemp, but still struck the stone floor with enough force to be knocked unconscious. Lew called upon his last major miracle of Osirian to aid Rowan and divine power surged through the ranger's body. Rowan sat up groggily and the two looked fearfully at each other through the dim light then looked upward, expecting to see the remaining rats coming down the rope after them.

After a few moments, no rats were forthcoming and the pair hurridly discussed what to do next. Lew determined that Marcus Tiro was still living - if only just - and Rowan was determined to get help or die trying. After a few moments to catch his breath, Rowan carefully climbed the rope, taking care to make as little noise as possible. After what seemed to be an eternity, he eased himself over the edge of the pit and is greeted by a horrible sight.

The three remaining rats were busy worrying the body of Garrick, now clearly dead. They have devoured most of the skin off his face and eyeless sockets stared unseeing towards the ceiling. Two were tearing into the soft abdomen, while one was burrowing through the neck. As Rowan stood, the bloody muzzle of the rodent at Garrick's neck rose and its beady gaze fell upon the ranger - their eyes locked for a moment - then Rowan dashed across the rails, pulling out his shortbow and nocking an arrow as he ran.

The rat chitterd angrily and started to follow, while the other two glanced up - cross at being disturbed from their feast and began to skitter towards Rowan as well. He fired a quick shot, grazing the lead rat, which quickly lunged forward and bit him, wounding him badly. Unfortunately, the rope was still secured to a cross-tie on the far side of the pit and tied securely around Rowan's midsection - preventing him from retreating any further. The remaining two rats began to scramble across the rail and the ranger's heart sank. Then, an amazing thing happend.

Perhaps it was the divine breath of Osirian, answering Rowan's earlier prayer or perhaps it was just plain dumb luck. Both of the trailing rats, like a synchronized acrobatic team, slipped from the twin rails at the same time and, claws scrabbling desperately, plummeted to the stone floor below with two sickening thuds. The falling rodents barely missed the unconscious Marcus Tiro and the almost unconscious Lew.

That left Rowan, exhausted and barely able to keep from passing out, and one barely injured rat. Screaming incoherently, Rowan charged forward, surprising the rodent and driving it over the lip of the hole. As he followed it over the edge, the blackness took him as he mentally shouted, "At least I took one with me!" while falling to the floor below!

(DM's Note: The rats had almost an automatic success chance to cross the pit, given their Climb Skill bonuses. Not only did they both slip and fall, they both blew Reflex Saves with substantial bonuses and got splatted. Marcus Tiro's player -Steve - commented, "If I hadn't seen you roll those in the open - I never would have believed it!"...another reason to make those open combat rolls, IMO. Also, see Rowan's note below...he was at "0" HPs, had one partial action before he passed out and did the last thing anyone expected...he charged! His "Bull Rush" knocked that ol' rat right into the pit and even cushioned his fall.)

To Be Continued...

Next: Session 2 (Part Three) - Death and Disaster!

Old One

Session 2 (Part Three)

Death and Disaster!

Lew jumped out of his skin when yet another rat pancaked itself on the pit floor, followed immediately by Rowan. Again, the rope helped attenuate the ranger's descent, but he still landed with enough force to be knocked unconscious. Lew hurridly checked Rowan over, getting him stabilized and comfortable then slumped to the floor, exhausted. After a few moments, the shallow breathing of Marcus Tiro and Rowan - accompianied by the soft snores of the spent priest - were the only sounds that could be heard.

Lew awoke with a start, finding himself in total darkness. "Must have fallen asleep," he mumbled.

He could here Marcus Tiro and Rowan's breath, but had no idea what happened to Rosë and Garrick. He calmed himself and attempted to renew his spirit with the power of Osirian. The Lightbringer answered his call, filling him with holy might! Feeling around in the dark, he located what he thought to be Rowan's prone form and channeled the power into the ranger. He moved to Marcus Tiro and repeated. Soon, all three were up and about - but all were in very fragile condition.

Lew called up a minor orison to create a temporary light on Rowan's dagger pommel. The area around them finally illuminated, they found themselves in a rubble and dead rat strewn four-way juncture, with rough hewn passages leading off into different directions. They quietly discussed their options and Rowan informed the two of Garrick's fate. Marcus Tiro ducked his head to hide the tears welling from his eyes - Garrick was his oldest and dearest friend. He savagely kicked one of the rat corpses, cursing under his breath.

Rowan then attempted to climb out of the pit using the rope. He made it to the top, but part of the fractured ledge gave way as he climbed out and he hurtled downward, knocking himself unconsious as he re-connected with the hard floor. Lew offered him some comfort, but had no more major miracles to call upon. Lew decided to climb out next, he slowly and painfully made his way to the top.

Once there, he saw Garrick's small form - bloodied, half-eaten and frozen in death. Just beyond the dead halfling, he saw Rosë. Somehow, the barbarian's incredible constitution allowed him to survive! He was barely breathing and terribly wounded, but Lew judged him to be in no immediate danger. He loosened the rope from the cross-ties, carefully crossed the cart rails and threw the other end down to Marcus Tiro so he could start up.

(DM Note: Rosë stabilized at -9. He could have gone to -11, based on his effective CON - see earlier note for house rule, but it was a VERY close thing.)

Marcus Tiro began to climb. Near the top, the fighter's strength failed and he started to fall. Lew tried desperately to keep his friend from falling, but hadn't taken the time to tie the rope off to an immobile object. The rope tore the skin from his palms as it slides through his hands and Lew couldn't hold the heavier Marcus Tiro. Finally, the rope slipped from his grasp and Marcus Tiro plummeted to the bottom of the pit, striking at a terrible angle. Lew heard the dry snap of breaking bones and Marcus Tiro did not answer his frantic calls.

Lew stood, trembling, with tears streaming down his face. He looked at Garrick's pitiful form and Rosë's beyond that. His mind whirled and only one thought cut its way through his clouded brain, "Father Thomas...I must get Father Thomas!"

Lew turned and fled from the abandoned mine. He stumbled outside and found that it was dark and there was a soft rain falling. Frantic and badly injured, he raced the league back to Glynden as fast as his aching legs would carry him.

(DM's Note: IMC a league is 3 miles/5 kms.)

Behind him, in the dank darkness of the pit, an ever-widening pool of blood spread from the fracture point on the left side of Marcus Tiro's head. Three turns of the minute glass after Lew exited the mine, Marcus Tiro found himself surrounded by mist. He saw a faint light at the end of the mist and moved towards it. In a nimbus of golden-white light, he found Garrick seated atop an enourmous cask. The halfling, smiling beatifically, thrust a foaming flagon of ale towards the confused warrior, "Welcome home, my friend!"

(DM's Note: Yes, it is sad but true, Garrick and Marcus Tiro, childhood friends, met an ingnominious end at the hand of four rats and a hole...)

The aftermath of the sordid affair was somber and sad. Lew was able to secure assistence and by mid-morning, in the midst of a desultory downpour, the living (Rowan and Rosë) and the dead (Marcus Tiro and Garrick) had been recovered from the mine. The children still had not been found and to add insult to injury - by nightfall - all the survivors where shaking from the alternate fever and chills of the "Rat Fever".

Adding to the gloom was news that the Swords of Glynden, with half-a-dozen retainers, had met and defeated a large gnoll band - taking 10 heads. They returned to the town muddy and bloody, but triumphant. Soon they were at Nan's, buying drinks for everyone and boasting of their exploits - bloody gnoll heads lining the bar. Soon a raucuous crowd was gathered and the loss of Marcus Tiro and Garrick was forgotten by all but a few.

Lew, Rowan and Rosë lay in their sick beds, trying desperately to block the noise of merriment floating in from the tavern. Father Thomas placed his quill on his writing desk, pausing his work on the eulogy for the burial service, and shook his head sadly. Two of the gate guards, pulling their cloaks tight against the wind and the rain, talked quietly about the strength and loyalty of Marcus Tiro. And over in the tavern, a human woman, large and dumpy, stood at the corner of her bar and wept silent tears for the diminutive halfling she had cared for over nine winters.

The funeral service the next day...ironically Festday...was a quiet and joyless affair. Father Thomas' eulogy was smple, yet forceful, concentrating on duty and sacrifice. Several others stood afterward to praise the pair and while Lew was speaking, a well-dressed young man stood at the back of the sanctuary and intoned in a steady voice, "And what of my cousins? They are still lost out there in the mines. They are innocent and blameless. Will those that sought them before now assist my brother and I in finding them?"

Lew's words faltered and he sat down, flustered. Rowan cast an angry look towards the young man, known to him as a miner from "Boss" Brathwaite's operation, but remained silent. Rosë regarded him skeptically. "Perhaps now is not the best time to speak of this, " Father Thomas said gently, "let us wait until after the service."

"Very well," the young man replied impatiently, "but every moment we do nothing, their chances for survival grow slimmer...do you want these two to have died in vain?"

Father Thomas turned away, completed the Rite of the Dead and led a small procession of clergy and lay brothers out of the Abbey and into the burial catacombs. Rowan quickly left the Abbey, brushing past the young man who tried to speak with him. Rosë grunted non-commitally when approached, mumbeling that he was off to the tavern to hoist an ale to his old friends. The exasperated youth waited until Father Thomas returned and entreated the cleric to order Lew to help him!

"That I cannot do, my son. I feel that your urgency is well-placed and that it has merit. Lew must make his own choice on this however. Place your trust in Osirian that all will happen as it is meant to."

Somewhat mollified, the young man departed the Abbey, seeking Rosë in the tavern. He found the barbarian quizzing miners about the best way to cross cave-ins, what kind of equipment is most useful in the mines and how best to avoid a repeat of the disaster that was visited upon the party. He strode up to Rosë and placed a bulging pouch on the table in front of him. Several denarii leaked out.

"My name is Quintus Scipio. There are over 700 denarii in this pouch - more than enough to purchase all of the equipment we will need. My brother and I tend to retrieve our cousins on the morrow. Your woodsman has run away and your priest is a coward, but I am told that the people of the tribes are without fear...will you at least help us?"

Rosë looked from Quintus to the money and back again, then nodded his head in agreement. "Very well, then, we will gather in front of the tavern at the seventh hour." With that, Quintus turned away and marched puposefully from the tavern. Meanwhile, Rowan stumbled to his mother's cottage and collapsed on a stool near her hearth - his breath came in great, ragged gasps and shuddering sobs soon wracked his body. His grey-haired mother stepped close and embraced her grieving son, saying nothing. After nearly an hour, the sobs subsided. Rowan gathered a few things, hugged his mother, and disappeared into the night.

Lew, eyes puffy, heart and head aching, sought the counsel of Father Thomas. He spoke in hushed tones of the guilt he felt - saying he was not worthy of Osirian's gifts. Father Thomas let him speak on for some time, then put his hand on the younger priest's shoulder.

"Lew, my friend, the ways of the Lightbringer are not always clear, even for us. I cannot tell you why your friends have been taken," he said gently. "The young man who spoke out-of-turn today, Quintis, I believe his name is - has asked me to order you to assist him in finding the lost youngsters. Although it is within my power to order this, I will not do so. You must search your own heart and decide this on your own. I trust that you will make the right decision."

Lew nodded, quietly thanked Father Thomas and departed, walking towards his own sleeping chamber. In the corridor, he almost bumped into Rosë without noticing him. The hulking barbarian youth was leaning against the wall in the shadows.

"Friend Lightman," he said in heavily accented Tradespeak, "I go tomorrow to help the Quintus-man and his brother. I may need your light-power...will you come?"

Lew looked into the guileless eyes of the barbarian and nodded. "When and where?"

"The seven hour," Rosë grunted. Before turning away, the barbarian laid a hand on Lew's arm. "It is good!"

With that, he strode away, and Lew couldn't find his bed soon enough!

The next morning, Quintus was suprised to see Lew arrive along with Rosë. After an awkward silence, Quintus said, "I must apologize for my hasty words yesterday and the tone in which I spoke them. It is just that I fear for my young cousins and you are the only ones that have any idea where they may be!"

Quintus then introduced him to his brother, Sextus, a small man with a booming voice, whose fingers played idly with a hand-harp.

Lew grasciously accepted the apology and they set about the task at hand. Unfortunately, it was Restday - and many merchants shops were not open (also, many merchants had spent the night drinking at Nan's tavern). Through Lew and Quintus' persuasiveness, Rosë's icy glare and Sextus' quips they soon had all of the equipment they needed, albeit at a stiff mark-up for the merchants' trouble.

They departed Glynden - laden with ropes, spikes, hammers, boards, poles and all manner of mining goods - making for the mine with all possible haste. As they neared it, they found a deep furrow in the ground that ran through the mine trace and into the mine. They suspiciously readied their weapons and cautiously entered the mine, lighting two lanterns as they did so. They found a muddy track, matching the outside furrow, which headed down the central mine shaft, along the cart track.

Advancing with trepidation, they soon came to the pit, which now had a large, muddy log place across it and lashed into place. The group looked around, puzzled, shrugged their shoulders and proceeded to take the next three-quarters of an hour to build a sturdy bridge over the pit. Rowan appeared on the far side about five turns of the minute glass after they started pounding spikes into the wall. He shook his head, motioned them to follow him and disappeared into the gloom.

"Sturdy as the bridge of an Emorian legion!" Sextus boomed. The group shared a laugh and continued forward. After half-a-hundred paces, they found Rowan standing on the far side of a large chamber. They moved to join him and he greeted them silently, pointing to a leather doll, stuffed with cloth, laying on the floor. Quintus bent and retrieved the doll. "It is my cousin's," he said, "let us search the area!"

After half-an-hour of fruitless searching, Rowan discovered a small slot, angling upward under an overhanging stone. He inserted his dagger into, wiggled it about and was rewarded with an audible "click". Slowly, a section of the wall slid back on oiled runners, revealing a narrow, damp passage. He motioned the group to follow him, saying nary a word and moved quickly away.

The party moved through the twisting, turning passage for some time. It seemed to be older than the mine, to their untrained eyes. Water ran down the walls in places, leaving a slimy trail and puddled on the floor. Rowan found one clear footprint in the muck, a man-sized boot print - heading forward. They went down several sets of rough-hewn stairs, then came to small chamber that was littered with rocks and rubble. They could see several fault lines in the ceiling and no exits from the room.

They carefully searched the walls of the chamber for close to an hour, but found nothing. Quintus, Sextus and Lew debated backtracking to see if they had missed something. Suddenly, Rowan dropped to one knee and began sweeping rocks aside on the floor. Quintus and Sextus looked at each other - then dropped to do the same. They soon discovered a patch of floor where the rocks did not move!

On closer inspection, the found a slot similar to the other one and determined that there was some type of trap door in the floor. Rowan repeated his earlier dagger trick and a section of the floor slid away, revealing an iron rung ladder heading down. After a quick decent, the band found themselves standing in fairly well finished corridor - maybe not Khazardyn craftsmanship - but definitely not rough-hewn.

By their lantern-light, they saw what appeared to be the beginnings of a chamber about 10 paces away and a door beyond that. They started forward cautiously and Rowan peaked into the room. His keen ears caught it first, the creaking sound of dry sinew rubbing across even drier bone. From the four corners of the room, Rowan saw skeletal warriors, clad in rotted armor, swivel their red-eyed gaze in his direction, raising bows nocked with bone arrows.

Rowan frantically motions to the rest of the party to get back into the hallway and flattens himself against the passage wall, drawing his shortsword...

To Be Continued...


Next: Session 3 (Part One) - How Many Skeletons in the Closet + Meet Quintus and Sextus Scipio, our latest victims, er...party members!

Old One

Interlude - Garrick's Log + Quintus' Intro

Greetings All!

Corey, player of the recently deceased Garrick has written a great tongue-in-cheek tale of his demise! Here it is in its entirety. If you enjoy it, please post a little note to encourge Corey for future writings !

Enjoy!

Garrick's Tale

Greetings, I am Garrick. I'm dead now, but not long ago I was an orphaned halfling living in a town called Glyndyn. I liked being alive, but this afterlife place is pretty interesting too. Plus, now I know what happened to my parents and the adventuring group that left me in Glyndyn with promises of coming back for me.

Since I'm new to the realms of those who have passed, I have not met too many people, though my good friend Marcus Tiro arrived shortly after I did. Since he was practicing with the new weapons they gave him, I decided to find Corey and keep him company.

The deity Osirian assigned Corey to be my "Player" and watch over me. I think that was really nice of them. Apparently though, he did not do a very good job since I'm dead and he has to spend all of his time reading big books. With titles like 'Remedial Dungeon Exploring for Profoundly Clumsy Players Who Get Their First Level Charges Killed' I can understand why he seems so unhappy all the time.

When I found him today he was once again hunched over his book at a table. Coming up behind him I said, "Greetings, Did I tell you how I died?"

His shoulders seemed to tense. I guess he still feels bad about it. However, he did not look up, rather his face seemed to press closer to the text as if his eyesight was getting poor. His hands also went to his ears. I suppose all that quiet study would make my head hurt too.

I figured he needed some cheering up, so I hopped up on the table next to him and, to make myself more comfortable went to kick off my shoes, but of course they were not there. Here in the afterlife we don't wear shoes - clouds are not hard and do not have any sharp edges.

I tapped his head, right on the spot where his hair is the thinnest. Now he looked up. I smiled, a big white toothed display that I was always proud of. As usual, he wore that serious almost frown. The set of his mouth always makes me think he has something to say, but is pressing his lips together to stop the words from pouring out.

After a moment he said, "Yes, Garrick you told me this morning."

Excellent I thought. "Well I thought of some more details, you know to give it flair when I tell everyone. Let me tell you again."

Corey's shoulders sagged. His lips moved once or twice. "Fine," he said.

If you ask me that word had to force its way, all fangs and claws, past those tight lips. Poor guy, needs to relax more and read less.

"Okay, there we were in the mine traces west of Glyndyn looking for two kids who had disappeared. My friend Lew, actually its Gandelwyn but who can say that in one breathe, had just splattered some spiders. He is one of Osirian's acolytes you know."

"You don't say," Corey replied. He is an uptight audience, but I like it when he responds to what I say. It makes the story more interactive.

"I do," I continued. "Anyway, its strange that he did all the smashing, I mean Marcus Tiro and Rowan were there too, and they train with swords everyday day. So I went into this room where the spiders had come from and looked around. It was boring stuff, picks and shovels packed in crates. But I did find a couple of lanterns. That was nice since we were about to run out of torches and boy does it get dark in those caves. I mean total pitch black, like wave you hand in front of your face and..."

"So you lit the lanterns?" Corey said. I liked that, showed he was listening to the details.

"Yep, and we were going to keep going down this corridor when a banshee started calling my name from behind us."

"That was not a banshee," Corey said, "It was the barbarian Rose at the mines entrance looking for you."

"Oh please, do you think he would just wander into some haunted mine and start yelling like he owns the place? I'm telling you it was a banshee and it wanted to suck my brain through my eye sockets, but Rose scared it off."

Corey said, "Very commendable." His tone was still not like my friends back in the tavern when we were having fun. It was very dry, like he needed water- or a personality. I figured that this was a great story and was now really convinced that he needed to hear it.

"So we went back and got met up with Rose. He had been sick for a long time and still looked a little... you know... gross. But he's really tall and has red hair. No banshee would feel safe around him.

"After meeting with Rose we decided to try another corridor. The mine entrance had three tunnels driving into the hill sort of like a W. We had been trying the corridor on the right and the left-hand corridor was all blocked. The corridor up the middle seemed the best choice, plus it had tracks laid for the miners to roll their carts on.

"Well Rowan, he spends a lot of time in the woods, went first. I tried to stay close to Lew and the barbarian since creepy things had already attacked us and I'm the right size for a good snack."

"We went a ways and then came to a spot where the tracks went over a big hole in the ground. It was wide and there was no way to get around it so everyone suddenly decided they were an engineer and offered ways to cross over. It reminded me of a game Marcus Tiro and I used to play. We could not afford toys like the other kids so we had to make do with what we could find in the street. We always used to take planks and lay them out and balance on them. Marcus always fell, but I was pretty good."

"So while they are discussing it, I hopped up on the tracks and started to walk across. Rowan got all testy, so I went back and let him tie a rope around my waist. Then I started to cross again. Somebody, maybe Marcus Tiro, asked me how deep the hole was. Well, I worked up some spit and lobbed it down the hole but it hit the bottom maybe eight (DM - actually 15) paces down. That's boring. You know in the heroic stories its always a little more impressive than that. I told them it was bottomless just to add to the effect of my bravely crossing it."

"Rose and Lew came across after me. I figured I'd be safe with them around, but just in case I took out my crossbow. Of course, when Marcus Tiro got to the hole he made a big show of tying knots and looping rope so that he would not fall in. I was just about to make a comment on how silly he looked when I saw the red eyes. At first I figured it was that pesky banshee again but then I remembered seeing such orbs before."

"I yelled 'RATS' and shot a bolt. I think Lew nudged my elbow or something because my bolt smacked into the tunnel's ceiling. Lew's a nice guy, but when he gets here I'm going to have to tell him that was not the time to be joking around. A halfling could get hurt?"

"You did," Corey said.

"Did what?"

"Get hurt."

"Hurt. I got killed. Made dead, finished off, turned into rat bait, bought the farm? have you been listening?"

"Sure, the rats?"

"Yea, the rats. This is the part where I get confused. First, I figured Marcus Tiro would run across the tracks and wham bam, no more rats. Instead, he's back there screaming, I don't know about what but it was not his usual 'Garrick, I'm charging so get out of the way' noise."

"Second, Rowan's normal hail of arrows did not come."

"Third, Rose attacked the cave wall instead of the rats. Gosh, that wall must have really upset him. I mean you should have seen the massive blow. He got so much of his weight behind it that his sword tip bent."

"There were four rats. They went after Rose and I. The three kitten looking ones went after him and the biggest, meanest one in the bunch, all yellow fangs and growls, came right for me."

"Rose started doing some barbarian dance, swinging his bent sword all around. I think he was summoning some avenging spirit to protect him. It was impressive, his sword flashing around not touching one of the rats. There was more rat than air around him but still he managed not to touch them once."

"So anyway, I'm left to deal with Man-Gore, the undefeated champion of all rats. Do you like the name? I added it for zest. Lew rapped the slavering pit-bred monster with his staff. It snarled and growled at him and its eyes glowed bright red in hate. I'm sure that it was a demon in rat form."

"I figured on sending the devil rat back to the fires of the underworld so I pulled out one of my daggers. I slashed down with a powerful blow but some stinking fairy knocked my blade aside. Everybody likes to use the halfling for their jokes, you know what I mean? My knife smacked right into the tunnel floor and shattered. I never did like fairies."

"I looked at the rat summoned from another world, trying to figure if I had enough time to get another dagger out. By my calculations I did not since he jumped up and bit me. It hurt a lot. But you know demon's teeth inject fire into you, so it was okay that I screamed. I remember thinking 'big teeth' and then he bit me again."

Corey looked upset again. What could he have done? I mean, I was up against Man-Gore, the pit-bred demon from another plane champion of all rats. Who do you think was going to win?

He turned away from me and snatched two books. On one cover I saw 'Exorcising Evil Pool Tables that are Biased in Favor of the DM.' On the other 'Dice for Idiots: its about rolling something higher than a three, stupid.'

Wow, they must really be mad at him. I could not even understand those titles. Deciding that it is pretty boring watching him read two books at once, I hopped off the table. I found a cask of ale locked inside a big vault and went looking for Marcus Tiro. First, we'll find some comfortable cloud. Then we will spend the rest of our day making it rain on the Swords of Glyndyn and watching our friends rescue those missing kids.

~ Garrick

Thus ends the tale of Garrick - a brave halfling and good fried! Lot's of great plot-hooks died with him!

Quintus' Journal

I do not know what response I expected after interrupting a funeral and calling for brave souls to help find my cousins. Certainly, more enthusiasm than I initially received. Perhaps the sacrifice of Marcus Tiro and Garrick has paralyzed the community with gloom. If that is the case, it did not show in the Azrael-Arhiman inspired festival that broke out after the return of the Swords of Glyndyn.

My personal frustration was probably an influencing factor. Who responds well to a hostile stranger pleading for aid? For certain, Kyndalyn the Older would. His son as well. The siege on Glyndyn's collective soul, starting thirty years ago with the Emorian Legion's evacuation, is taking is toll on the town's spirit. We are becoming more selfish, less willing to sacrifice.

Enough. The last few days are taking their toll on my spirit as well.

Of the group who initially sought my cousins, I was immediately able to convince the Barbarian to continue the search. The presence of denarri helped. He deserves credit for not taking it from me in payment. I found Gandlewyn truly surprising. Upon reflecting, I realize a night alone in a haunted mine surrounded by dead and wounded comrades is a trying experience at best. Yesterday though, I called him a coward.

I was wrong about Rowan, I assume I am wrong about Gandlewyn. Rowan, who stalked into the forest after the funeral, ignored my calls. But finding him in the mines, proceeding alone with the search for my cousins, inspired me. I owe him both an apology and thanks.

After gathering my things and getting Sextus from the house, I met with the barbarian and Gandelwyn outside Nan's. After discussing our equipment needs, we set about making our purchases. The money was sorely needed at home, but it would cut into my soul spending it on my needs and neglecting two children who are dear to me.

We then quickly went to the mine, finding odd tracks and smears in the mud outside. Inside, we decided to convert the tracks over the hole into a bridge. These noisy proceedings are what attracted Rowan's attention from his place further in the mine.

Upon joining up with him, he handed me Wynda's doll. This place is disturbing to me; it must be a horror for a child. Rowan is refusing to speak, a further sign that he is honoring this quest with the utmost intensity. I am considering introducing him to my sister Maxima. Unlike Sebrina, she is pious and industrious. I will discuss the issue with Sextus.

The mine apparently dead-ended. I think we all found this questionable. Searching revealed a hidden opening. Four years in Braithwaite's pit and I have never seen such a thing. This led us down into an area where the place stopped looking like a mine and took on another nature. All agreed on proceeding. I think finding the doll has given us hope.

Further down, we hit another dead-end. This one containing another hidden door concealed under a false cave-in. Roget Crow, my mining team's leader, would be slapping his head in frustration if we slowed down and started trying to craft such works. That someone is hiding something is obvious.

We continued down.

The barbarian and Gandlewyn had told Sextus and I of their encounter with the undead in this mine. Abrigal taught me something of a cantrip to damage these infernal creatures. I never thought I would have any cause to use this skill.

That changed coming into a large room in the mine. There, imposing themselves between my hopes of rescuing my cousins and I, were a pack of animated skeletons. As we scrambled deal with them, they were nocking arrows.

~ Quintus Scipio

(DM's Note: Everyone show Corey how much you appreciate his excellent effort by posting glowing praise here...hint, hint!)